Category: OTHER DESSERTS

I’m loving all things “Grinch” right about now. We recently took the kids to see the new “Grinch” movie and every where you go, there’s little reminders of it.

After making them their own Grinch-pancakes, I decided to make some of these Grinch-inspired Crinkle Cookies.

They’re super easy to make. And I like the fact that I initially made up a big batch a dough, just a small batch of cookies, put the rest of the dough in a Zip-lock bag in the fridge, and have just been taking it out in little amounts to make them a small batch of cookies to enjoy at the end of their night with their hot cocoa.

If you’ve ever made snowball cookies, these are quite similar. You mix all of your ingredients together until fully combined, roll them in the powdered sugar, set them directly onto your cookie sheet & bake.

Unlike the snowball cookie batter, these don’t need to be refrigerated before you roll them and bake them. My Russian teacake dough, usually needs to set in the fridge for about a good hour before I can really roll them and have nice firm balls that will set up and not crumble when I go to roll them a second time.

If you have heart shaped sprinkles that are ready to go, then of course use them. If you don’t, try taking a few red Wilton candy melts wafers and break them into small pieces to decorate the top of your cookies to make them officially, “Grinch-ed”. Creamy, buttery & even a little bit crunchy. You can’t go wrong with that.

This Thanksgiving (and every Thanksgiving) it’s all about the pie for me. “Eat some turkey, have a few sides & save some room for a slice or two of pie”. That’s the game plan, right? That’s me every time, and that is the way to make sure that my Thanksgiving Day dinner is complete!

I found this recipe years ago, and I’ve made it over a dozen times & I tell you, there hasn’t been one time that I have made this pie and not had someone say, “What is in that pie?!” followed by a “That was really good.”

Well, it’s usually one of those… “I’ll tell you later” sort of scenarios because we don’t want to scare anyone away, right?

This pie is made with some of the most unsuspecting of ingredients, but the way that it all blends together is just pure magic. It’s buttery and delicious & won’t scare your neighbors and friends away, unless you spill the….ahem…beans…before they have a real chance to taste it. After all, that’s what the pie is made with. Beans. You can even call them “magic beans” if you’d like.

One full cup of a can of unseasoned mashed beans are your answer. You take one can of pinto beans, drain them and mash them and you’re on the start of making this delicious pie.

After you mash your beans, you’ll blend in your eggs, granulated sugar, light corn syrup, and a couple of teaspoons of good vanilla extract, for good measure.

*Note: I usually fully blend my mixture with a hand-held blender before adding the pecans, just to make sure that I have smooth base texture to go with.

Next, one and one half cups of pecan pieces go in, and Voila!

Well, not quite, “voila” but we’re almost there.

Before adding your pie filling to your crust, you should line both pie crusts with parchment paper and dried uncooked beans. Now, there are beads and things about there, that can help you with this. But if you don’t have these special pie beads, then just a layer of parchment paper and regular dried beans from the store will do. Then bake your pie crusts for 10-12 minutes on 350 degrees before adding your filling.

Once your pie crust has come out of the oven and cooled about 10 minutes before adding your filling, go ahead and add the filling and then wrap the edges and bottom of the pie pan with foil, leaving the face of the pie exposed.

Bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes with the foil on, and then for the last 10-12 minutes remove the foil edge from the pie, to finish.

45 minutes later, you should have two nicely golden finished pies. Allow the pies to cool completely before cutting.

If you’re struggling with the fact that this pie was made with a can of beans, then let me give you a fair warning in telling you that once you taste one bite of this pie, even if just a nibble, you will want to have another slice again & again, and again.

Sweet bean pie a la mode may be the order of the day for the first slice & then sweet bean pie a la eat, will likely be the order for all of the remaining slices. 🙂

Sweet bean pie

Adapted from Grandma’s Recipes Collection

1 can of pinto beans (rinsed, drained & mashed)

1 cup of granulated sugar

1 stick of butter (softened, not melted)

1 1/2 cups of light corn syrup

3 eggs

2 teaspoons of pure vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups of pecan pieces

2 unbaked deep dish pie crusts

Aluminum foil

Directions

One a large plate, with a fork, mash your rinsed & drained beans.

Add the mashed beans to a large mixing bowl, and then add the sugar, light corn syrup, butter, eggs and vanilla. Mix on medium high speed with a hand blender until fully blended. With a large spoon, stir in the pecan pieces.

Set aside.

Pre-bake your pie crusts for 10-12 minutes at 350 degrees, with a layer of parchment paper and dry beans in the center.

Remove the pie crusts from the oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before adding in the pie filling.

Pour in the pie filling and cover the outside edge of the pie crust with aluminum foil and bake at 350 degrees for 35 minutes. After 35 minutes, remove the foil from the pie edge and continue baking for another 10-12 minutes.

Once golden brown, remove pies from oven onto a baking rack or mat to cool. Wait 30 minutes to an 1 hour before slicing to allow the pie to set, then enjoy!